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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25312777">Sleep and Stories</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/chockfullofsecrets/pseuds/chockfullofsecrets'>chockfullofsecrets</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Critical Role (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Gen, M/M, Tickling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:21:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,710</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25312777</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/chockfullofsecrets/pseuds/chockfullofsecrets</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Here, sitting with Caduceus in the rooftop garden of what with the Mighty Nein’s growing penchant for multilingual portmanteaus was becoming colloquially known as the Xhorhaus, he was feeling oddly relaxed.</i>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <i>A little too relaxed, maybe.</i>
</p>
<p>Fjord has trouble staying awake during one of Caduceus’ stories. It’s not hard for Caduceus to find a way to help him pay attention.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Caduceus Clay &amp; Fjord, Caduceus Clay &amp; Fjord &amp; Jester Lavorre, Caduceus Clay/Fjord</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>90</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sleep and Stories</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fjord was starting to see the appeal of gardens.</p>
<p>He definitely had a long way to go before becoming a proper follower of Melora - it was painfully easy to picture the Wildmother’s well-meant disapproval every time he got within five feet of some foreign plant or animal and promptly embarrassed himself - but here, sitting with Caduceus in the rooftop garden of what with the Mighty Nein’s growing penchant for multilingual portmanteaus was becoming colloquially known as the Xhorhaus, he was feeling oddly relaxed.</p>
<p>A little too relaxed, maybe. He and Caduceus had just finished cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, and he had asked for one of the stories of the Wildmother that his fellow disciple seemed to be in endless supply of. Fjord was doing his best to pay attention, but up here it felt as if the entire world was wrapping around him and lulling him to rest - the ever-present darkness broken only by the glow of divine lanterns, the gentle rustle of a thousand leaves in a slow breeze, the smell of earth and greenery in every direction telling him that he was being watched over and cradled in caring hands. The worst culprit, perhaps, was the bass of Caduceus’ slow voice, pitched even lower to better embody the gravity of the ancient tale he was telling. It gave him the childlike urge to lay his head against Caduceus’ chest, to feel the words echo through the emptiness Uk’otoa’s orbs had left inside him and take root in his bones. Not, he thought sleepily, that he would have been able to act on such an urge as the orphan child or the lonely adult that he had been only  a year ago. He was endlessly fortunate to have such an intimate gesture as even a passing consideration now.</p>
<p>Maybe, just maybe, the Wildmother was telling him to go to sleep before he did something stupid.</p>
<p>“You’re not listening at all, are you?”</p>
<p>Fjord came back to himself at the remonstration, realizing with a sudden shock that he was no longer imagining the physicality of Caduceus’ voice. A quick canvassing of the surroundings revealed that he had, in fact, dozed off on top of Caduceus, temple pressed just below his collarbone. </p>
<p>Oh, Wildmother, nature really was a fickle bitch sometimes.</p>
<p>“Oh! My apologies, Caduceus, I - the story was lovely. I’m afraid it failed to compete with the tranquility of the <i>lovely</i> space you’ve created up here.”</p>
<p>Caduceus waited for him to trail awkwardly into silence, chuckling as Fjord tried and failed to stifle a stray yawn. “That’s fine, Fjord. I’m glad you like it up here, and I know I’m not the most exciting person to listen to. Why don’t you head down for the night?”</p>
<p>“No,” Fjord protested, feeling terribly guilty as his impromptu pillow started to get up, and in a moment of brash inspiration he slumped further into Caduceus until he was certain the firbolg wouldn’t be able to move without toppling them both. “Start again, please, if you have the time. I’m the one who asked you to tell a tale, and I would truly love to hear it.”</p>
<p>Even from a low angle, he could make out the surprised twitch of Caduceus’ ears, the corner of a smile in sudden bloom - he was pleased, heartbreakingly so at such a simple courtesy, and Fjord resolved instantly to say nice things to him more often. </p>
<p>“Might be easier to stay awake if you sit up,” Caduceus told him. One of his hands came up, and Fjord thought for a second that Caduceus might shove him off. Beau would <i>definitely</i> have shoved him off by now. But the hand simply enveloped his shoulder, warm and waiting.</p>
<p>Fjord elected to take full advantage of the invitation. “You’re comfortable,” he grumped, scrubbing the side of his face against Caduceus’ homespun shirt before it occurred to him how weird a thing that was to do. </p>
<p>Caduceus rumbled beneath him in quiet amusement - if Fjord wasn’t pressed up against him, he didn’t think he would have noticed. So much about Caduceus, he was starting to realize, was buried about six feet deep beneath his placid exterior. “Well, then. In that case, maybe this will keep you up.” </p>
<p>Natural as rainfall, his hand skimmed off Fjord’s shoulder and down his ribs, his thumb tracing a meandering line along the side of Fjord’s stomach. Fjord flinched instinctively, sniggering before he could stop himself, and buried his nose in Caduceus’ shoulder with even less decorum than before to keep himself from laughing outright. “Ah - I-”</p>
<p>Caduceus, entirely unworried, swiped his thumb back up and then down again. “Yes?”</p>
<p>Part of him was trying frantically to think of how Caduceus knew that he was ticklish - had he seen Beau prodding at him? Did Jester let it slip? It was the same part of him that, even now, kept track of how visible his tusks were every time he opened his mouth, the part that bristled in fear-anger-control when he met someone taller or broader than him or at a certain look in a bystander’s eye.</p>
<p>The rest of him, still soothed by the scent of plant life and the drowsy contact of cheek against skin-warmed cloth, was awash in mirth as goosebumps prickled in the wake of Caduceus’ fingers. Fjord tried to encourage it; his side was already growing sore from shoving into Caduceus’ space and holding himself there and so he sprawled even further to pillow his head in the firbolg’s lap, met his tranquil gaze and let the helpless smile pulling at his lips settle as it wished. </p>
<p>“I’m listening,” he said, hyper-aware of how the syllables crackled with laughter. “For - hm! - for now, at least.”</p>
<p>Caduceus started the story again. It was, surprisingly, easier to stay awake with the new sensation, the lazy loop of Caduceus’ fingers altered just enough at each pass to keep them constantly nudging at his attention. His fingers caught on the edge of Fjord’s navel, once, and he apologized mid-sentence as Fjord snorted out a proper laugh and squirmed in an involuntary moment of panic.</p>
<p>Stories of the Wildmother, from what Fjord could tell, had no clear rise or fall of action, just a simple sectioning by quests or commands or pure happenstance. Still, he could tell that the tale was nearly over when the trapdoor leading up from the tower to the garden creaked open.</p>
<p>Silver-tipped horns and blue hair popped up over the edge in a pretense of stealth, violet eyes making the most cursory attempt to evaluate the scene before the tiefling they belonged to sent the wooden door clattering open and scrambled up. “Hel-lo! Caduceus, can I ask you something - oh, hi Fjord! - <i>ooh</i>.” </p>
<p>Caduceus wasn’t talking anymore, but his thumb continued to rub gently against Fjord’s belly. Fjord tried to prop himself up on an elbow anyway, at least making a token attempt at dignity, and realized a moment too late that his muscles had apparently jellified in the face of his ticklish stupor. He wobbled and ended up right back on the ground where he’d started, cheek planted against Caduceus’ thigh. “Hi, Jester,” he sighed. Squeaked, if he was being honest. </p>
<p>Jester crept over to him as if he were some kind of rare woodland animal - though, knowing her, she’d probably rush straight at the thing and try to scoop it up - and <i>cooed</i>. He would have been embarrassed, but his ability for it had apparently disappeared along with his brain’s connection to his arms. </p>
<p>Relaxation was <i>wild</i>.</p>
<p>Still, <i>something</i> tweaked the pit of his stomach with subdued alarm as Jester suddenly blocked out his entire field of vision. “Oh, can I?” she asked abruptly, fingers out and wiggling diabolically. She wasn’t looking at him.</p>
<p>“Um,” Fjord said.</p>
<p>“Sure,” Caduceus allowed easily from what seemed like miles above his head. “What did you want to ask me?”</p>
<p>There were a number of things Fjord wanted to say about this development, most of them starting with ‘wait, what?’, but then Jester was scrubbing her fingers over his belly in a way he was pretty sure he’d seen her do to her dog once and it was entirely impossible for him to participate in any sort of conversation given how desperately he was laughing. “Jes!” he barked, scrambling for her wrists, or maybe to tickle her in return - if Caduceus’ ministrations had mired him in quietude, then Jester’s brazen attack was certainly a trigger to fight back. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, whatever battle lust he could muster couldn’t change the fact that he was at a complete disadvantage - he was prone, no armor of any sort to protect the soft spots that Jester was ruthlessly exploiting, and the way he was leaning against Caduceus made it nearly impossible to free either of his arms. Jester’s tail clamped around his knee, squeezing in a way that made his entire leg spasm, and he laughed even harder in a poor attempt to repress outright hysterics. “A-hah!-Jes, c’mon, <i>stoppit-</i>”</p>
<p>“<i>Shush</i>, Fjord, Caduceus and I are talking,” Jester said, almost petulant in her teasing. Her casual disregard was immediately belied by the warm smile she gave him, ruffling his hair into a complete disaster over his eyes before returning to tickling him silly, all the while chattering with Caduceus about pastries of some sort. </p>
<p>Fjord thought that maybe this was going to be how he died. Well, at least he was here with two clerics; he’d probably come back.</p>
<p>“Fjord,” Caduceus said what seemed like an entire hour later, catching the last fraying edge of his sanity as he looked up in desperate hope of salvation. “Should I start telling the story again?”</p>
<p>“The- the <i>story</i>?” Fjord’s spine nearly broke of its own accord as Jester zeroed in on a particularly delicate spot just south of his ribs. “Noho! She’s going - gods, <i>plehehease</i> Jes - she’s going to <i>kill</i> me, <i>help</i>!”</p>
<p>Fjord continued to plead for his life as Caduceus frowned slowly, processing the situation, and finally - “Oh, Jester, wait - hey, now-” He reached over Fjord, and abruptly his body was blessedly free from evil tickling fingers and Jester was squealing with laughter of an intensity that made him wince on her behalf. </p>
<p>Fjord finally struggled up to his elbows, wheezing out the remnants of giggles as he watched Caduceus efficiently mine every inch of ticklish flesh on Jester’s hips for unrestrained, screaming laughter. With his long reach, he herded her struggling form away from Fjord until she gave up completely and flopped to the ground in front of them, spouting fervently incomprehensible apologies. </p>
<p>Through it all, Caduceus didn’t even bat an eyelid. Fjord was probably going to have nightmares about this.</p>
<p>“There we go,” he said a moment later, rubbing Jester’s back where she lay face-first in the soil and glancing back down at Fjord. “Sorry, kind of slipped my mind there - you look, uh, purple? Are you okay?”</p>
<p>Thin fingers, appreciably delicate despite their size, brushed his hair away from his forehead and patted gently at his cheeks. As if he was a drooping flower, or a twisted stalk that needed to be nudged back towards the sun - it was tender enough to make Fjord dizzy.</p>
<p>“You’re my hero,” he confessed, grinning helplessly, and slumped back onto Caduceus with an unceremonious <i>thump</i>. “Okay, keep going, I want to hear what happens to Palak.”</p>
<p>Like one of Caduceus’ mushrooms, Jester’s head popped up from the soil with alarming speed. “Wait, is there a story?” she asked, pausing to spit out a mouthful of dirt. She was kneeling in front of Caduceus in an instant, one hand planted just shy of his furred leg in supplication. “Can I listen too?”</p>
<p>Her voice was light, but with his face so close to the earth Fjord could just make out the way her other hand clenched reflexively against her skirts in the face of Caduceus’ unperturbed expression. “It’s just been a while since I’ve had a nighttime story, you know? I mean, I read ‘Tusk Love’ all the time before bed because it’s <i>the best story ever</i>, but it’s not the same, and - ooh, does your story have <i>true love</i> in it?”</p>
<p>Caduceus tilted his head, considering. “Well, it’s an ancient tale that’s been passed down through my family. I suppose you could say it has a similar kind of devotion.”</p>
<p>“There’s a guy with a shovel that has a holy leather thong on the handle,” Fjord added helpfully. Jester’s grip on her skirts relaxed as she threw back her head and laughed at the unintended innuendo, just the way he knew she would, and he smiled back at her. </p>
<p>Caduceus smiled too, although Fjord thought it might be more in response to Jester’s happiness than an understanding of the joke. “Of course you can listen. Should I start at the beginning?” </p>
<p>“No, wait, I can do it,” Fjord insisted, reaching blindly up to pat at Caduceus’ shoulder. “I’ve heard it twice now, after all.” He cleared his throat as dramatically as he could while flat on his back. Jester leaned in, Caduceus looking down on them both, and Fjord dutifully recounted what he remembered of the tale - a barren, cracked land where seeds lay atop the earth and were ravaged by birds, a mossy-skinned orc receiving a sign from the Wildmother and following the jagged scars on the earth back to their source so he could dig up an ancient boon. Caduceus remained silent through his rendition of the tale, even when Fjord referred to one of the more persistent avian attackers as ‘a real fucker’. </p>
<p>He’d been told that he had a knack for stories out at sea, with all of his crewmates having nothing better to do when the winds calmed - accomplished liars, every single one of them. He wasn’t sure if the Wildmother would approve of his particular style of embellishment, but it did feel nice to tell a true story for once.</p>
<p>Eventually he reached the point where Caduceus left off and came to a stop himself. Jester appeared perfectly rapt, budged up against him and Caduceus with wide eyes and one leg crooked up over his arm. He looked next to Caduceus, somewhat anxious, and found him pleasantly approving. “That was really good,” he commended, and the compliment felt all the better for the way Fjord could feel it echoing through his skull. “You’ll do a good job of passing these on, when the time comes.”</p>
<p>“It’s not finished,” Jester protested, tail lashing animatedly behind her as she sprang up and unleashed a flurry of gentle slaps on both of them - being Jester, they still stung quite a bit. “Caduceus, tell us how it ends!”</p>
<p>“<i>Please</i>,” Fjord drawled, purposefully patronizing, and just laughed as Jester slapped him again before dutifully echoing the pleasantry.</p>
<p>He laughed again as Caduceus <i>harrumph</i>ed and blinked, moving even slower than usual in a way that he read as absolutely intentional even before feeling the same slow rumble of amusement against his shoulders. “Sit still then,” Caduceus intoned, teasing, and with a pout Jester settled back with legs crossed primly, the picture of an intent listener.</p>
<p>From the corner of his eye, Fjord could see her trying to tickle the sole of Caduceus’ bare foot with her toes. Smirking to himself, he rolled over a little and added a finger or two to her efforts. </p>
<p>The rumble intensified into something that could probably be quantified as an audible laugh. Fjord was tempted to push further, but Caduceus reached out again, drawing Jester’s offending foot into his lap and bringing one silvered hand back down to Fjord’s belly in warning. “Don’t tickle me,” he said mildly. “I’m trying to tell a story.”</p>
<p>“Okay, o-<i>kay</i>,” Jester squeaked hastily, shuffling to accommodate the new twist of her legs and eventually just laying down on her side and cuddling up next to Fjord. Her hair smelled of paint and cinnamon - he wondered where she’d found the latter in Xhorhas, and decided he might be better off not knowing. “There, we’re ready, go!”</p>
<p>The soft breeze blew a little warmer, as if in approval. Fjord watched Caduceus smile up at his tree, at the lights, and found himself pleasantly sure of a happy ending.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>An anon sent me a description of a fic they were looking for, and even though we couldn’t find it the idea was so soft that I decided it had to exist :)</p>
<p>If you would also like to tempt me into writing soft things, come say hi on <a href="https://chockfullofsecrets.tumblr.com">tumblr</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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